The House on Tuesday passed Congresswoman Elaine Luria’s (VA-02) bill to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a study and submit a plan to Congress that would make VA websites accessible for veterans affected by blindness or hearing loss.
A 20-year Navy veteran who took office in January, Congresswoman Luria has experienced great success with her legislative portfolio during her first term. With today’s passage of the VA Website Accessibility Act (H.R. 1199), Congresswoman Luria now has three House-passed bills, including two signed into law.
The latest triumph developed after Congresswoman Luria, the Chair of the Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee, met with the Blinded Veterans Association in March to better understand the unique challenges they face in garnering online access to the benefits they have earned.
“Our servicemembers put themselves in harm’s way to protect American freedom. It is only right that Congress uphold our end of the promise by giving disabled veterans the care they earned,” Congresswoman Luria said. “I’m grateful the House has advanced my effort to eliminate barriers preventing some of our bravest men and women from receiving quality medical care, as well as disability, vocational, and educational benefits.”
No later than 180 days after Congresswoman Luria’s bill becomes law, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs would have to conduct a study of all websites of the Department of Veterans Affairs to determine whether the websites are accessible to individuals with disabilities. (In this case “websites” include kiosks at VA medical facilities, which often are required to check in for scheduled appointments.)
Within 90 days of the study’s completion, the Secretary would be required to submit a comprehensive report to Congress highlighting websites, files, or web-based applications that are not accessible to individuals with disabilities. As part of the report to Congress, the Secretary would provide a plan to bring the online material into compliance.
The compliance standard would be Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
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